Sunday, August 18, 2013

Happy Trails, Mr. Daniel

Dear Mr. Daniel,

I dropped you off at the airport just a few hours ago. You left a trail of personal belongings through the apartment and in the Stormtrooper. I guess I'm supposed to deal with those things? I suppose it was better that you were putting your attention toward making sure you knew where your passport was. And we're all really proud of you that you were able to get out of the house on time to catch your flight. So I'll let the rest of it slide.

I'm not sure what life has in store for you next. And it seems like you don't really know either. I'm not sure how much I'll see of you in the coming years. Maybe a lot. Maybe a little. I know you'll have some great opportunities to do something fulfilling. I know that whatever it is you do next, you're going to be successful at it.

You can accomplish whatever you want. You have to listen to me when I tell you that because I know you better than anyone who might try to tell you otherwise. People like you don't just grow on trees. You're special. And not in the way that everyone is "special." You're special special.

I hope you'll be surrounded by people who encourage you to do good and who appreciate the good in you. There are going to be plenty of people in your life who will try to take advantage of you because of your kindness and generosity. They may even pretend to be your friend even though they are actually poison to you. I wish I could protect you from those people, but I know you're wise enough to figure out how to protect yourself. And that's comforting to me.

There are so many memories that I have of the great experiences I was able to share with you over the past two years. I will always remember riding spin bikes at the gym in the dead of winter for six straight hours on a Saturday, wondering if this was actually effective training for the Ironman. I'll remember walking through the streets of L'viv Ukraine with our backpacks at 5:00 in the morning, singing at the top of our lungs in opera voices a song from Sister Act that we were both embarrassed to realize we knew word-for-word. I'll remember hiking through the dead of night with the Annas at Arches National Park. Leaving an airport on a long layover just to get a passport stamp. Repeatedly making enough borshch to last for five days but consuming it in two. Buying thirty pots from "you like-a Shakira" in Mexico. Running the Palau Marathon through the jungle in the middle of the night on little-to-no training.

I will miss so many things about you. Seeing you interact with the kids at church and teasing them about the crushes they admit to having on each other. Hearing your unbelievably horrible attempts at faking any kind of accent. Having the almost constant aroma a freshly baked cookies in the apartment.

There are some things I won't miss. I won't miss being late to everything, just like I'm sure you won't miss having to stay up late every night to listen to me talk about "trivial" nonsense. I won't miss wondering if you're going to back out of plans at the very last minute, just like you probably won't miss me getting upset about it when you do. But I'm sure that when I reminisce, none of the things that at one point seemed like a really big deal will actually seem like that big of a deal. Because they'll be overshadowed by all of the reasons I called you my best friend for so long.

Thank you for being present when I needed your presence the most. Thank you for teaching me what it means to be generous and truly considerate of friends and strangers. Thank you for the countless hours of entertainment courtesy of your curiously goofy comedic timing and unrelenting awkward hijinks. Thank you for encouraging me to try difficult things and believe that I could do them. Thank you for letting me share your life and your friendship with thousands of people you've never met who feel like they know you and can call you "friend" too.

You'll probably never read this, because you don't think this blog is interesting. And I've never really understood that, although I can respect it. But in case you do read it, I just want you to know that I'll miss you, pal.

So long.

Farewell.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Goodbye.

Your friend,

Stranger

P.S. Please remember to refrigerate your deviled eggs before you feed them to other people.

I'm pretty sure my heart is broken, I'll miss Daniel. But I'll mostly miss Daniel for you. Who will bake you cookies and make you play "meow that tune" and reach things on the the tall shelves and do your laundry? Adios Daniel. We will miss all of your insane antics!

This is completely unacceptable. I cannot live in a world without Daniel stories. Just like that - He's GONE?! No! Not only have you just made me cry at work - and I'm a nurse, so now all my patients think they are dying, or I have bad news about them that I am not sharing. Anyhow,I think we can, every single one of us agree, that there needs to be a way that Daniel can remain in your life, and ours as well. Please work on this posthaste.

Reading your comment, I just realized that denial and Daniel have the exact same letters in the exact same places, except that the "A" and "E" are switched. I thought it was interesting. Anyway, I love your reference to Peter Pan.

So your blog has never made me cry before...well tears of laughter....but this did today....you have a beautiful friendship....not many people have that good of a friend in their lives. You are blessed.

I too will miss your adventures with Daniel. He seems like a really wonderful person and I hope your paths cross a lot as you both go along the way.Stay strong Eli! Missing them just shows how awesome they really are.

You say that you're not sure how much you'll see of Daniel in the coming years, but you do have some control over this! Please make an effort to keep in touch with your gentle giant friend! Friendships like yours don't come along every day, and you owe it to each other to keep in touch. I am just saying this because I have lost touch with some really good friends and it is harder to get back in touch than it is to just keep in touch. Email, skype, send him your dirty laundry occasionally... it's not that hard! And even us regular working professionals get weekends or days off, so you can go visit Mr. Daniel too! I'm sure he wouldn't mind baking some cookies for you sometime, perhaps even some deviled eggs?

I agree with many others, i hope you did email this to him. Reading this made me tear up a little bit... I hope you do see him quite a bit in the coming years, because you ARE best friends. Just make it a point to stay in contact. I miss Daniel already for you, because of how close the two of you are. I hope you the rest of your time in Palu is amazing, and both your and Daniels future endeavors are every bit as amazing as you never thought possible.

I'm not sure if I'm just being emotional, or if it's the drugs from my root canal, or the super sad songs on my radio right now, but this really made me cry. A lot. We'll miss you, Daniel... Mostly I think I will because you remind me of my older brother, and best friend, that I miss dearly. Seeing Eli and Daniel together makes me think of Tell and I's silly antics. Have fun on your happy trails... And just turn your mistakes into happy little trees. ;)

Awww - you made me cry too! Keep in touch with Daniel, or all us Strangers will hound you mercilessly! You can't allow the dynamic duo to split up permanently - after all, you're the big kid in this relationship! Have fun in your new lives.<3

Try reading this with "I Will Always Love You" playing in the background; after all it was written about a departing friendship. ..ask Dolly. Great blog, Eli! I know that you know, how special Daniel is to you and you will do what needs to be done to keep your friendship alive and you don't need all of us telling you what you need to do. Now, don't YOU have some packing to do?! See you back in the states, our dear friend! Much love and prayers headed your way.